Eyes in the Fog
by K9 the First
Summary: Before the AntiToxin run, Balto was just another stray in Nome, Alaska. Before that, one of the greatest love stories of all time took place in the wilderness. And it all started with a chance meeting one foggy morning.


_**Eyes in the Fog**_

By K9: The First

**Disclaimer: Aniu and other Balto characters are owned by Universal, aside from Iron and the team and mushers. I disregard ownership to Baltos Father mainly because I have not named him.**

The Wilderness, Alaska, 1920

Alaska. The very sound of her name brings to mind images of harsh winter storms, majestic mountains, beautiful sun rises and more. But for centuries, people didn't see these riches as valuable, since they couldn't find precious metals in the thousands of square miles that makes up it's territories, as is exemplified in the fact that it was bought with a mere average of two pennies per acre, she is also one of those final as yet untamed lands, whose hidden wonders no human has ever seen before, or ever will. So it comes with little surprise that, over the millennia, thousands of Inuit warriors, and mushers in later times, have vanished, never to be seen again, much like a certain body of water to the far south east. But small areas have been converted to habitability by Man, Man and his Canines. To the ancient inhabitants of this land, the sight of a Dogsled team has become a rather common yet still rare sight, and one that always means trouble….to the non curious, that is. No, to the curious, such a rare sight is an excitement, a new thing to explore. ….From a safe distance of course.

On this early morn, a sled team of six dogs has stopped for the night on their long journey from Anchorage to Nome, a small mining town further north and to the west, and they would have left hours ago, had it not been for this forsaken fog. The two humans figured with a little luck they might not have any trouble with obstacles, but they learned that it would be a foolish plot to attempt, since they lost their elder lead canine in conditions similar to these two winters ago. And so they decided to wait until the low-altitude cloud dissipated, conditions were supposed to be clear tonight, along with a Full Moon, revealing the range as clearly as any sunlit day, so it would be a practical figuring that they could make up for lost time and more this evening. Amongst the dogs, a Brown-and-Tan Siberian Husky paced restlessly along the outer edge of the camp, waltzing this way and that in a way that unveiled tightly wound, and shallowly buried annoyance at being kept in a singular position on the map when every cell and fiber in his being screamed for movement, all the while an amused Black-and-White Malamute looked on at this rather normal sight.

"Slow down Speedy! We'll leave the second this fog clears, if you don't stop you'll wear the ground until you reach China." Called the Malamute, the last part stated with a chuckle, along with a counter-point of similar sounds from the other four in company as they listened to their Co-Lead Dogs.

"Ha-Ha, _very_ funny Iron." The Husky replied the Malamute in a tone drenched in Sarcasm, pausing a moment before continuing. "I just want to get going as soon as possible all right?"

"What's the rush champ?" Called another dog, this time a slightly aged but experienced Chow who held a pleasant visage that belayed a kind soul and an easy outlook on life, and who was currently failing to hold in eruptions of laughter, "You don't got a _girl_ in Nome that you've kept us in the dark about do ya?"

"Well if he does then I guess I owe ya my serving of kibble tonight!" called another Husky, barely able to speak around the laughter.

The Soil-colored Husky silently growled deep in the back of his throat and was about to tell the haughty canines where they could put their words, along with a few 'choice' phrases about their mothers when he caught wind of an unfamiliar scent. The taunts forgotten, the sled dog curiously searched for the origin of the smell, for he was one of the 'foolish dogs', as some sled dogs would label, with 'no sense of self-preservation or common sense', the kind of canine who was always putting his nose in things that would probably have been best left alone, and was slow in bigoted judgment, as was shown in his opinion of the mysterious creatures that are the wolves, as is seen in a quote he reportedly stated to a respected, rookie as he was, sled dog who spoke of wolf packs attacking teams and baring none to survival of the assailment: 'No survivors? Then where do the stories come from I wonder?', it should go without saying, thus, that the other canine was rendered mute for several minutes trying to form a proper response to the well placed question on the sources. He found none.

A collection of fathoms away, a pair of Amber eyes watched the collection of beings underneath the foliage upon the crest of the ridge the team had used as a wind breaker the night before. The creature they belonged to was a curious ivory colored She-Wolf by the name of Aniu, who ever since she caught sight of this team in her territory, had kept a vigilant gaze upon them. Aniu has always been too curious for her own good. Or so her elders had always told her. However, she never really listened. After all, what was the harm in being interested in the goings on in the world around you, especially in ones territory?

At least, that's what she would have said up until a few seconds ago. She was so engrossed in observing these humans and there 'slaves', as a few members of her pack would refer to them as, that she completely overlooked a single, brown colored male tracking her scent until he was within just meters. Quickly taking control of her breathing so as to not signal her presence, she softly backed out of the ferns and bushes that served as her cover. However, she was already to late in action, for the male was now close enough that he could not only track her scent as she moved, but also hear her foot falls, no matter how soft. Thankfully, the fog had thickened up just as Aniu noticed the curious male so he couldn't see her….yet. She was now clear of the brush, and now just had to dispatch the spy, who she could easily hear not only the foot falls of, but also the breathing. She was almost ready to make her planned disappearance a reality when the worse and most embarrassing thing possible in the world happened………….the fog started to clear. And she froze in a brief panic.

The Co-Lead dog knew he had almost found the source of this curious scent, but the soft foot steps he could barely hear were almost gone. He was worried that he'd lost his quarry when the fog started to clear.

And then he saw something, a shape in the fog, frozen in place in a position that told a story, and that story told him that this, canine it appeared through the still thick fog, was in the process of moving away when it was caught by surprise by the thinning out of the fog. On the subject of the fog, a weak but steady wind had arrived and moved more of the fog away, and he could now make out more details. The mystery visitor had snow white fur, a female …and a wolf.

At this revelation, the young male's mind paniced for a very few brief seconds, he had heard stories of wolves, but then, who hadn't? No one who lived with or around humans with young ones could go a singular cycle of the lunar shapes without hearing the story of the Big Bad Wolf, and other tales portraying the mysterious wolf as a sinister villain, how they were vicious killers, attacking without provocation, and that they always ambush their prey without thought or mercy. But that panic oozed out of his mind with rational thinking, after all, they were just stories, and he had heard others tell how some wolves were friendly, and that they just wanted to be left in peace. Mayhap this She-Wolf was among the later, less heard of and less dramatically interesting wolves? These thoughts and stories helped to sooth his mind, but the remaining fears were chased away when he saw what he would later call her most beautiful feature: her eyes.

Her eyes were the color of soft sunlight passing trough gilded amber, a color he had never seen before in a creature, the way they were set in her head gave her magical orbs the appearance of ancient wisdom, combined to youthful vigor and beauty. The subtle emotions within them spoke of curiosity, anxiety, loneliness, fear, embarrassment, and other moods he could not place. He was so mesmerized by her visage that his mouth fell agape stupidly, giving him the comical appearance of a fool.

To anyone else watching the scene, they would have noticed the parallels to an illustration from any Fairy tale book: A youthful adventurer in the dark and forbidden woods all alone, without a single self-defensive weapon to his name, and said adventurer stumbling upon a wild maiden of the forest with unsurpassed Beauty above him, with fog passing between them, teasingly revealing and concealing different parts of the object of observation, never showing all. Then the fog started to thicken again, but neither seemed to noticed nor care, certainly not the male, not until all he could see of the mysterious beauty was merely a silhouette, a silhouette that quickly darted away, disappearing as suddenly as it achieved the opposite. Horrified at the sudden vanishing trick, he quickly found his previously lost ability to make locomotion and quickly scurried the rest of the way up the hill.

"Wait!" The male called out, a call on deaf ears, the only answer he would receive would be the echoes of his own cry as the sound waves would bounce off trees, rocks and other unseen objects in the distance. "Wait."

After a few seconds pause, he heard his Musher and master calling his name, along with the members of his team, the older chow who had goaded him earlier about not having a mate even as far as apologizing for his uncalled for dialogue. With a final forlorn gaze at the general direction the Beauty of the Forest escaped to, the Husky turned and trudged back to his team.

But had he been looking to the foliage to his right, and waited long enough, he would have noticed those two eyes he had fallen in love with. The team was getting ready to leave and thus wouldn't have a chance to speck for several hours, and though when the time would finally arrive, his team would inquire as to what he found, he wouldn't tell, not that he could have for several days. Frankly, he wasn't sure what he found himself, all he really remembered were those eyes. The Eyes in the Fog.

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A/N: This was originally written for my _Anius Lover Challenge Thread_ on the Balto Icy Boards. ….It's the only story posted so far. Though a couple people took interest, and one person said they were interested in writing a story. Anyway, I decided to post this here so I polished it up by…a lot. The original version was pretty rough description-wise. You can still read the original version in the General Writings thread if you wish to compare and contrast, just google Balto icy boards to find the forum. If you have a piece that you'd like to post, register and put it up! Just be sure you read the rules first.

_Revision: 9/2-4/06_

_Written: 12/22/05_


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